


The Mother We Share

by lovelyleias



Category: Alien (1979), Alien Series, Alien: Isolation (Video Game), Aliens (1986)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, also not Bishop, post-Aliens, that awkward moment when your sister is old enough to be your grandmother, well lots of people die but not these four
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 18:11:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7398142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyleias/pseuds/lovelyleias
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt tenses, ready to run at the slightest hint of danger. “I’m fine.”</p><p>“Really?” The woman says dryly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were lost.”</p><p>Newt shrugs, but the tension in her belly begins to fade. Even in the dying light, there is an odd feeling of comfort that Newt finds in the woman’s eyes.</p><p>“I’m Amanda,” she tries again. “What your name?”</p><p>--</p><p>After the events of <em>Aliens</em>, Ripley seeks out Amanda, believing her to be alive. Newt manages to find her first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mother We Share

**Author's Note:**

> I think that it's genuinely possible that Amanda Ripley could have been alive during Aliens. Canon goes back-and-forth with whether or not cancer is cured, and 66 is awfully young to die now, let alone in the future. Burke could have lied to Ripley, so that the Company wouldn't have to deal with her going off to find her daughter. In fact, now that Alien: Isolation is canon, he lied by omission. Anyway, that's where this AU comes in. The title is lovingly borrowed from [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW1g1MlLDsE) song.
> 
> Also, this fic has way more kudos/views than any of my other Alien fics. Were y'all directed from somewhere?

Ripley and Hicks speak in hushed voices, believing Newt to be asleep. Newt’s lips threaten to twitch in a secret smile, as they don’t know that she is only pretending. Truthfully, she _had_ been tired when she had lain her head on Ripley’s lap, while the adults had a beer in the _Sulaco_ ’s small recreation area, but sleep had never claimed her. She loved the feeling of being safe and quiet, lying between the two people who loved her best in the whole universe. She drifts dreamily between sleep and wakefulness, a pleasant experience that she had nearly forgotten.

“I had a daughter,” Ripley says softly, and strokes a lock of Newt’s hair. Through her nearly-closed eyes, Newt can see Hicks’s lips part, but he doesn’t interrupt. “ _Amy_. Burke told me she died while I was in hypersleep. Cancer, in her mid-sixties. I asked Bishop to help me look her up. We found hospital records, but they were forty years old, and information had been redacted. And we didn’t find a death certificate. I think… I think Burke lied to me. I think she could still be alive.”

Hicks sets his drink down and leans forward. “Are you sure?”

“No. But when did Burke ever say anything true? And, I know… even if he _was_ lying, she could have moved, or died,” Ripley’s hand stills, tangled in Newt’s hair. “But I have to know the truth.”

Hicks bites his lip and nods. Newt falls asleep soon after, and dreams of playing with a little girl with dark hair. 

—

They land on Earth a month later, in a town called Little Chute. Newt gasps the first time she steps off the _Sulaco_. Earth is nothing like her home planet. It’s far too bright and they’re people everywhere, even though Ripley says it’s a small town. They don't tell her why they’ve landed on Earth, so she doesn't tell them that she knows.

They leave Bishop to attend to the _Sulaco_ , and they search the town until they find somewhere to set up camp. Newt slips her hand into Ripley’s as they walk, and she doesn’t once complain about the tense way her new mom squeezes her hand. They pay money to stay in a house made up of long rooms. Hicks tells Newt what it’s called, but she forgets in her excitement. Ripley wants to set out as soon as the door closes, but Hicks convinces her to wait until the morning. Newt had thought that it was morning, but apparently Earth’s Sun is still shockingly bright, even in the late afternoon. 

Despite Ripley’s protests, she falls asleep as soon as she gets into bed, and Hicks quietly climbs in beside her. Newt lies wide awake on top of the blankets on the other bed. She’s a little hungry and very curious about the new world outside. She rolls off the bed and pulls on her boots. With a quick look at the sleeping pair on the bed, she slips outside. 

It’s warm outside, and Newt smiles as the breeze stirs her hair. She heads down the gravel path until she gets to the sidewalk. She walks along the twisting roads, stopping every so often to inspect an interesting find. At one point she finds a frog, a real one, not even a picture in a book. She tries to catch it, but it’s even faster than she is. As it leaps away, Newt notices that it’s nearly night. The sky is getting dark quickly, casting ugly shadows in the trees that line the street. She turns around, biting back her fear, and realizes she isn’t sure how to get back. A shape is coming quickly towards her from down the road, and without a thought, Newt begins to run. Nothing good can live in the dark.

“Hey!” The shout comes from behind her, and Newt stops running. A human voice. There was a time not too long ago that she would have kept running regardless, but she now knows that it can be rewarding to put her faith in people.

The person approaching is a woman. She is old, even older than Ripley and Hicks. Her hair is almost completely white, and her face is quite lined. She’s carrying two bulging grocery bags that she sets down on the ground when she crouches next to Newt. 

“Hey,” the woman says. “Are you okay? It’s a little late to be out on your own.”

Newt tenses, ready to run at the slightest hint of danger. “I’m fine.”

“Really?” The woman says dryly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were lost.”

Newt shrugs, but the tension in her belly begins to fade. Even in the dying light, there is an odd feeling of comfort that Newt finds in the woman’s eyes.

“I’m Amanda,” she tries again. “What your name?”

“Newt.”

“ _Newt_? That’s quite a name,” Amanda rises to her feet. “Can I help you find your way home?”

Newt weighs her options. She doesn’t know how to get back, and Ripley and Hicks would be worried if they woke up. But her inclination to independence is difficult to shake. Finally, she nods.

“Can I carry your bags?” Newt offers, stating words her mother— her first mother— would have wanted her to say. 

“Alright, sweetheart.” The woman hands her the smaller of the two bags. It’s heavy, but Newt is strong. “What’s your street’s name?” 

“I don’t know. I’m not from here.”

“Do you know where you’re staying?”

“It’s long and short,” she tells the woman, gesturing with her free hand. She thinks for a moment. “It has a lot of blue doors.”

“Ah. The motel.”

 _Right_ , that had been the word Hicks had told her. Newt’s belly rumbles, and she squints and glares down at it, betrayed by the noise.

Amanda smiles. “Do you want an apple?” 

Newt nods and Amanda pauses to fish one from her bag. She hands it to Newt, who takes a big bite straightaway. “Thanks,” Newt remembers to say, her mouth filled with fruit. Juice spirals down her wrist, and she wipes it on her pants.

“What are you doing in Little Chute?” Amanda asks, guiding her down the road. “It’s not exactly a vacation destination.” 

“My mommy is looking for her real baby.”

“ _Real_ baby? Aren’t you her kid, if she’s your mom?”

“This is different. She didn’t have me, like how people have babies.”

Amanda snorts. “That doesn’t make her any less of your mom.”

Newt tries to think of her first mother’s face, but all she can picture is Ripley. She frowns. “Where’s yours?”

Amanda switches her bag to her other hand. “My mom? She died a long time ago.”

Newt weighs this against what Amanda had said. “She’s still your mom.”

Amanda looks down at Newt, and smiles, even though her eyes look sad. “You might be right.”

Amanda’s shirt sleeve had ridden up when she adjusted the bag, and Newt can see a thick pink scar that twists down her arm. 

“What happened?” Newt points at the scar. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Amanda shakes her sleeve down. “It’s not a nice story.”

Newt looks back up at Amanda, who is staring pointedly ahead. She thinks she sees similar scars running down the base of her neck and vanishing into her shirt. They look like claw marks.

“I don’t like nice stories,” Newt whispers, and looks away. “They’re never true.”

“It was a long time ago,” Amanda says softly. She smiles suddenly, and looks back down at Newt. “So, where are you visiting from?”

Ripley warned her not to tell anyone about Hadley’s Hope, so Newt doesn’t answer. Besides, Amanda didn’t tell her about her scars. 

“We’re just staying for a few days, I think,” she says instead. “We had to leave someone on our ship. My mommy says that people on Earth don’t like synthetics.” 

“That can be true, unfortunately.”

“But Bishop doesn’t even like to be called that. He says he’s an ‘artificial person’,” Newt doesn’t stumble over the syllables like she had before.

Amanda smiles. “I used to have a friend who would have liked that.”

Grownups, Newt concludes, have endless lists of words they’ll say instead of _dead_. But she knows enough to hold her tongue.

The road turns into a path that leads through a forest. “Not far now,” Amanda says. She starts to walk forward, but Newt stays with her feet firmly planted in the ground. She forgets about the half-eaten apple, and it rolls onto the ground.

Amanda turns around and frowns. She turns back to the woods, and tilts her head as if she’d never seen them before, either. When she turns back to Newt, she reaches out and takes her hand. Her hands are calloused and rough, like Ripley’s, and Newt allows her to thread their fingers together. “Don’t be afraid,” Amanda reassures her, her voice low and soothing. “We’ll go together.”

They walk through the woods hand-in-hand. The darkness settles upon them, and Newt can hear her own breath, and Amanda’s, and twigs cracking under their boots, and before she has a chance to be afraid, they are on the other side. 

“See?” Amanda lets go of her hand, to Newt’s disappointment. “We’ve got you home, safe and sound.”

She’s right, Newt can see the building just down the bottom of a hill. She had come back the opposite way that she had left. She takes the lead, and Amanda follows just behind. The lot of the motel is dotted with lights, making it nearly as bright as daytime. Newt can see Hicks hastily digging through bushes that surround the building. 

Amanda sees him too. “Is that your dad?”

Newt doesn’t know the answer, so she calls out to him instead. “Hicks!”

Hicks looks up with a start and sprints towards them. “Oh, honey,” he breathes, wrapping his arms around her neck. “You scared us, Ri— your mom is running all over town looking for you.”

Hick’s looks up at Amanda hovering behind them, whose eyes linger rudely on the scars on his face. “Thanks for bringing her back.” He stands up, holding Newt’s hand, but his eyes search Amanda’s face and his brow furrows.

“This is Amanda,” Newt gestures towards her new friend. Hicks inhales sharply, squeezing Newt’s arm before rising to his feet. 

“Amanda,” he repeats, soft and sweet, like when Newt wakes from a bad dream. “Amanda… Ripley?”

“Oh, Jesus,” Amanda backs away, the pleasant look on her face fading. Newt reaches for Hicks’s hand again, confused by the use of her mom’s name, but Hicks isn’t paying attention. He’s staring at Amanda, who’s own face is twisting furiously. 

“I thought I was done with you Company shits trying to drag out answers,” Amanda spits. “Get the fuck away from me.”

With surprising speed, she takes her other bag from Newt and moves back towards the woods.

“Wait,” Hicks calls, trailing after her. Newt follows, trying to make sense of what’s happening. Hicks stays just a step behind, letting Amanda take the dominant lead. “I don’t work for the Company, I promise. But I did come to find you. You can trust me, I swear.” His voice is low and serious, but to Newt’s confusion, he’s trying to hide a smile.

Amanda turns around and stares at Hicks. Her eyes are hard and unyielding, but she can’t seem to look away from his scars. She drops her bags into the dirt. “You’ve seen… them.” 

“Yes.”

Hicks and Amanda hold their eye contact until it makes Newt squirm.

“So have I,” she tells Amanda to break the silence. She thinks of the marks on the woman’s neck and arm. “And so have you.”

“Fuck,” Hicks breathes, as Amanda unconsciously touches her own scars, confirming everything.

The three of them stand in a silence shared by those who have fought, by those who have suffered, by those who have survived. Amanda takes a wary step forward. She looks at Newt, and her face softens. “Who are you? How did you find me?”

“I’m Dwayne Hicks.” Hicks shakes his head, his smile returning. Newt thinks it makes him look silly. “And you might not believe me if I tell you now.”

“I believe in a lot of things,” Amanda tells him firmly. “I’ve been around a long time.”

“Alright. We came here to find you,” Hicks’s voice is so, so gentle, “with your mother.”

“What the fuck?” Amanda’s face hardens again and she steps away. Newt’s heart is pounding, she thinks maybe she knows what’s happening. 

“ _Newt_!”

Before anyone can take action, Ripley comes tearing through the lot, and spins Newt around to face her. “Where did you go?” She asks fiercely, her fear displayed plainly on her face even in her anger. Amanda cries out and drops her bags.

“You can’t do that to us,” Ripley hasn’t noticed anything wrong, her focus pinpointed on Newt.

“Ripley,” Hicks tries to interrupt.

“Do you know how scared we were?”

Newt’s cheeks flush with shame, even as her mind races, trying to piece everything together. 

“Ripley!” Hicks moves to stand by Amanda, whose face has gone white.

“I can’t lose you, sweetheart,” Ripley touches Newt’s cheek lightly, and suddenly Newt can see Amanda’s face in Ripley’s. 

“ _Ripley_!” 

“What is it?” Ripley stands, finally acknowledging Hicks. He doesn’t say anything, just grins magnificently. Amanda looks ready to laugh or cry. She takes a hesitant step forward and then looks away, almost shyly. 

“Oh my god,” Ripley breathes. Amanda lifts her head, and the two women stare at each other silently for a long while.

“Hi, Mom,” Amanda finally whispers.

“Oh my god,” Ripley repeats, and lunges forward, pulling her daughter into her arms. Newt can see tears rolling down both of their faces, as they hold each other and rock back and forth. She sidles towards Hicks, who puts an arm around her shoulder.

“I got the message you left for me,” Amanda chokes out. “But I thought you died.”

“Hypersleep,” Ripley manages to reply. “I’ve only been out for a little while. They told me you were dead.” Her eyes widen as her fingers brush the claw marks on Amanda’s neck.

“I have so much to tell you,” Amanda tells her solemnly. “I’ve had a lot of wonderful things happen to me. And some terrible things too. You should all come home with me.”

“Alright,” Ripley tears her eyes away from the scars, and gives her a pained smile. “It can wait. But, Amy, I’m so, _so_ sorry—“

“Don’t be,” Amanda protests fiercely. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

They press their foreheads together with a seamlessness that makes Newt think they used to do it a lot, a long time ago.

Amanda looks down at Newt with red-rimmed eyes. “Is she yours?”

Ripley manages a watery chuckle. “She is now.”

Amanda lets go of their mother and Hicks lets Newt go too, as Amanda pulls her into a hug. Newt presses her own smooth, wet cheek against Amanda’s wrinkled one. She doesn’t remember when she began to cry, but she curls her arms tightly around Amanda’s back.

“Thank you, little sister,” Amanda Ripley whispers, and kisses Newt’s forehead. “I’m so happy you found me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so this is essentially plotless, but I love this beautiful space family. <3


End file.
